Canadian Terror Threat to U.S.

Title:
Among U.S. Politicians, Claim That Terrorists Use Canada As Base Dies HardDate: October 19, 2010Source:Globe & Mail

Abstract: Ottawa can't seem to persuade Americans that it's a
myth that terrorists lurk in Canada posing a grave threat because of a porous
border.

In the latest
brouhaha, Ambassador Gary Doer upbraided Sharron Angle, the Republican with a
solid chance of unseating Nevada Senator Harry Reid, after the outspoken
Tea-Party-backed candidate suggested that Islamic jihadists have entered the
United States from Canada.

"We do not have a 'porous border,' but rather one of the more secure
borders in the world," Mr. Doer insisted in a letter he fired off to Ms.
Angle, as well as posting it on the embassy's website. "Canada takes
border security very seriously and [I]trust you will see fit to set the record
straight," he added.

So far she has not
done so, and she may see no need.

Ms. Angle didn't say
the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackers came from Canada, although that remains a
persistent belief among Americans. What Ms. Angle said was that the northern
border is America's "most porous" and that terrorists have come from
Canada.

That's more or less
what Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said as recently as a year
ago. When outraged Canadian officials took her to task, the unrepentant Ms.
Napolitano held her ground. "I know that the Sept. 11 hijackers did not
come through Canada to the United States" she said, adding pointedly:
"There are other instances, however, when suspected terrorists have
attempted to enter our country from Canada.''

Ahmed Ressam, the
Millennium Bomber, is perhaps the best known. Carrying a genuine Canadian
passport, he packed a rental car full of bomb-making equipment and took a ferry
from Victoria to Port Angeles, Wash., where he was intercepted by an alert U.S.
Customs agent.

Although Canada and
the United States have spent billions turning the 6,000-kilometre frontier,
once billed as the world's longest undefended border, into a maze of concrete,
cameras and radiation detectors, it may still be too porous for many Americans.

"The fact of the
matter is that Canada allows people into its country that we do not allow into
ours," Ms. Napolitano has said.

In fact, porosity may
be a problem in both directions.

Najibullah Zazi, who
plotted to bomb New York's subway system, crossed into Canada to visit
relatives in Mississauga. He went back and forth across the border apparently
without triggering alerts on either side. Two members of the so-called Toronto
18, who plotted to build huge vehicle bombs, bought handguns in the United
States before heading home to Toronto.

An alleged pair of
terrorists from Atlanta, Syed Haris Ahmed and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, took the
bus to Canada in 2005 to consult with jihadists in the Toronto 18.

Ms. Napolitano has
suggested that the scale of the threat and the number of extremists who slip in
and out of the United States is considerably greater than the instances that
are known because of arrests. "Some of these are well-known to the public
- such as the Millennium Bomber - while others are not due to security
reasons."

That's more or less
what the Tea Party's would-be senator from Nevada is saying too (Globe
& Mail, 2010).

Abstract: A former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency says his spy service was well aware of the case of three radicalized
Canadians from Winnipeg who are believed to have disappeared in Pakistan.

Michael Hayden told
The Globe and Mail in an interview that he viewed the Canadians' travels as
part of an "alarming" trend - one that led him to urge former U.S.
president George W. Bush to step up covert CIA actions against individuals from
the West who were seeking terrorist training overseas.

"I broadly know
the case. I know the issue," he said. "… It was part of our general
appreciation of 'We got people who know the West, who are now being trained to
come back at the West.' "

Mr. Hayden would not
say whether the men in question were ever targeted directly by CIA agents or
CIA drone planes.

His remarks amount to
the first time that a counterterrorism official has openly acknowledged the
sensitive case of the missing Canadians, a behind-the-scenes global manhunt
that was revealed last month in a lengthy article by The Globe and Mail.

In 2007, the three
Winnipeggers ventured abroad after first undergoing conversions to radical
Islam. The disappearance of the three men in their 20s - Muhannad al-Farekh,
Miawand Yar and Ferid Imam - has been a mystery to friends and family, as well
as to counterterrorism agencies who have traced a trail running from Winnipeg
to Waziristan, Pakistan.

A retired four-star
general who left the CIA last year, Mr. Hayden was featured as a speaker this
week at a national-security conference being held aboard a cruise ship. After a
presentation, he was asked by The Globe about the Canadian case and the CIA's
clandestine drone-strike program.

But Mr. Hayden would
not even confirm the existence of that program, though it is by now one of the
world's worst-kept secrets. For several years, the CIA has been increasing its
use of missile-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles (known as drones) in hot spots
where the U.S. is not technically at war. The counterterrorism strategy is
highly controversial, given that extra-judicial state-sponsored killings sit in
a legal grey area.

One credible Web
site, known as The Long War journal, says that more than 600 suspected
terrorists in Pakistan have been killed so far this year in more than 100 CIA
drone strikes. That's compared with fewer than 300 individuals killed in an
estimated 35 strikes in 2008, according to the site.

While not speaking
directly to the strategy, Mr. Hayden did give some insights into a more
aggressive mindset that may be driving drone attacks.

"One of the big
issues that I was briefing to George Bush as 07 turned to 08 was the number of
Westerners - broadly defined - who were showing up in the tribal regions of
Pakistan," he said.

He said he told the
president that "this is a safe haven that's being used to prepare people
to come attack us. And therefore we recommended - and this is the best I can
give you on this - stronger courses of action."

The CIA has been
frequently assailed by critics for allegedly engaging in major rights
violations. Senior judges in Canada have, in recent years, faulted the RCMP and
CSIS for improperly sharing information with CIA officials - exchanges that led
to the CIA-facilitated jailing of Canadian citizens in brutal prisons overseas.

Even so, Mr. Hayden
said he always retained warm relations with his Canadian counterparts, so
cordial that Canadian spy chiefs would sometimes dine at his house in the
United States.

Before joining the
CIA in 2006, Mr. Hayden spent years running the National Security Agency, the
secretive U.S. "signals intelligence" body. While heading the NSA, he
took political flak for pioneering what has become known as "warrantless
wiretapping."

He makes no apologies
for acting aggressively - spy services, he said, always ought to be at the
precise line between what is legal and what isn't.

"You want them
playing fairly close to the line," he said.

"... Playing
back from the line protects me. Playing close to the line protects America"
(Globe
& Mail, 2010).

Title:
Terrorists See Canada As Safe Haven: Expert
Date: September 30, 2012
Source:CNewsAbstract: Terrorists have spared Canada from a major attack
because they see the country as a place to raise money and as a safe haven for
their families, says a topIsraeli anti-terror cop.

“Terror groups don’t
want to cause a problem here,” Yoav Lorbert, the security manager of El Al
Israel Airlines. “These groups attack for a reason and Canada is not an
attractive target.”

Lorbert said cell
members send their families to live or attend school in Canada and don’t want
to cause problems.

“Canada is not
involved in any (volatile) political situations abroad,” he said at an
International Airport Investigators’ Training Symposium which wrapped up in
Toronto last week.

He showed dramatic El
Al security video of suicide bombers and how they can be detected. There was
stunning footage of a man blowing himself up with such a blast that it shook
buildings.

Investigators said
many fugitives and terrorists “park” their families in Canada for safe keeping.

They highlighted the
case of Khadiga Gurhan, aka “Madam Aidid”, the second wife of Somali warlord
Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The woman had been living and collecting welfare in
London, Ont., in the early 1990s with four children, as her husband was on the
run from UN forces in Somalia. He was killed in 1996.

Lorbert was head of
El Al security when the airline was targeted several times, including a 2002
ticket counter attack at Los Angeles Airport which left two people dead and
three others wounded. Airline personnel killed the gunman.

He was present during
a 1985 attack in Rome when terrorists threw grenades and opened fire at an El
Al counter killing 17 people an wounding more than 100.

Lorbert said all
ground workers entering El Al aircraft must show identification and are
accompanied by security officials.

Investigators were
also updated on a police probe at Pearson Airport on

the theft of items
from skids of name-brand goods being imported by

retailers.

“Sometimes the entire
middle section from a skid of goods can be missing,” said Det. Stephen Rowland,
of Peel Regional Police Airport Division. “In general, stolen goods are
smuggled out of the airport by workers.”

Toronto Police Supt.
Ron Taverner said his 23 Division handles calls for help at Pearson and a
federal immigration detention centre, on Rexdale Blvd.

“We are the closest
division in proximity to the airport,” Taverner said.

Abstract: The U.S. government calculates there’s a low risk of
terrorism against North American shipping, ports and along shared waterways, in
contrast to a Canadian assessment of maritime security vulnerabilities.

“When compared to
other tactics, maritime attacks by al-Qaida or its affiliates are rare and have
only occurred in the Middle East and East Asia. The transferability of this
tactic to North America would be problematic given MTS governance and law
enforcement that create a less permissive maritime environment.”

The most vulnerable
marine sector, it says, is U.S. and Canadian passenger ferries and terminals,
which present softer targets than major ports and other significant marine
transport elements and are readily accessible to homegrown extremists.

The U.S. assessment
presents a distinctly different picture than that of a January report by
Defence Research and Development Canada, which said the threat to Canada’s
maritime borders has increased. It analyzed the terror risk posed by millions
of small boats in high-traffic border regions, such as the Great Lakes and the
St. Lawrence Seaway, against targets such as bridges and nuclear power plants.

“The terrorist risk
manifests itself in several forms, including transportation of weapons of mass
destruction, the use of small vessels to deliver water-borne improvised
explosive devices, for the smuggling of wanted persons, as well as a platform
for standoff weapons and attacks.

“Emerging threats are
being signalled by events in other countries such as Colombia and Mexico where
there is a growing use of submersibles or miniature submarines, partially
submerged vessels (presenting a small radar cross section) and high-powered low
freeboard vessels (Pangas).”

The report concluded
that Canada has no coherent strategy for dealing with a growing national
security threat posed by small boats in high-traffic border regions. Much of
the analysis was based on comments and insights from police, military, port
authorities and government officials. Most “do not feel that the current
surveillance capabilities are sufficient to counter the small vessel threat and
that a change is needed,” the report said.

The Great Lakes
marine transportation system encompasses eight states, two provinces and more
than 32 million Canadian and U.S. citizens. The region produces 50 per cent of
all U.S. manufacturing output and two-thirds of Canada’s. The waterway’s
importance is expected to grow as both countries seek ways to ease highway and
rail congestion (Ottawa Citizen, 2012).

Abstract: Ships traveling between the U.S. and Canada and the
ports that serve them can present attractive targets to terrorists, but the
vessels and facilities present a difficult environment to execute an attack,
according to a DHS report.

While the myriad
passenger and cargo vessels plying the waters between the U.S. and Canada, as
well as their ports, remain attractive terror targets, “the threat to the
majority of the system is low,” said the “U.S.-Canada Marine Transportation
System Terrorist Threat Assessment” Unclassified//For Official Use Only
(U//FOUO) report.

The unclassified
document issued by DHS in April to assist federal, state and local government
counter-terror officials, updated earlier threat assessments of the Marine
Transportation System (MTS) by the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian assessments in
2008 and 2007, respectively.

The 38-page report
was posted on the Public Intelligence open source Web site on Nov. 12.
DHS said the document provided an updated baseline for maritime transportation
threats in support of joint U.S. and Canadian northern border security.

Although ports and
vessels in along the northern border face a low possibility of attack, “violent
extremists could attack U.S. and Canadian ferries and similar soft maritime
targets with little or no warning.”

Al Qaeda and its
sympathizers, it said, have limited capability to conduct small boat waterborne
improvised explosive device (WBIED) attacks against the U.S.-Canada MTS. “When
compared to other tactics, maritime attacks by al-Qa‘ida or its affiliates are
rare and have only occurred in the Middle East and East Asia. The
transferability of this tactic to North America would be problematic given MTS
governance and law enforcement that create a less permissive maritime
environment,” it said.

Although an attack by
terrorists using a weapon of mass destruction smuggled into the U.S. or Canada
aboard a containerized cargo ship could produce a high impact event, the report
said that logistically, terrorists could be reluctant to carry out such a plan
because they wouldn’t be able to tightly control what would be a valuable
weapon aboard a ship. “Nonetheless, this threat remains a low-probability, high
impact scenario,” it warned.

DHS said it believes
terrorists would most likely more seriously consider using other maritime
options like small boats and bulk cargo shipments, to smuggle weapons of mass
destruction, or conduct related “waterside” attacks in the U.S. or Canada if
they had opportunity.

Although there is no
credible reporting that ferry systems and other passenger vessels have been
targets of ongoing terrorist plotting, “they
remain vulnerable targets for terrorist attack,” said the report.

Concerns about such
an attack are “elevated,” said DHS, because Al Qaeda and its affiliates have
been keen on attacking “soft targets” to create maximum mayhem. The growth of
homegrown violent extremist (HVE) threats and the scarcity of preoperational
indicators for ferry attacks, it said are also contributing factors to the
added caution. Terrorists could also target ferries as a way to compensate for
the increasing security measures protecting the aviation sector, it said.

Despite the apparent
paucity of terrorist plans to attack ports and ships themselves, port and
maritime traffic present opportunities to slip personnel and material into the
U.S., it said. Immigration and mariner document fraud, smuggling, and criminal
activities along the waterfront require continuous law enforcement vigilance,
it said, warning that criminal elements may try to bump up their circumvention
of maritime security in North America because of enhanced land border security
and air passenger screening.

Cyber attacks “will
continue to represent only a marginal threat to automated ships and port
facilities in North America, largely because of the complexity required for a
successful attack,” it said. Information about such electronic assaults,
however, “remains an enduring intelligence gap.” The dangers of Cyber attack,
it suggested, could originate with disaffected employees or other
insiders—particularly those with system administrator access. Complaints of
insider threats “are the most frequently voiced by private sector security
officials,” it added (GSN,
2012).

Abstract: The U.S. government calculates there’s a low risk of
terrorism against North American shipping, ports and along shared waterways, in
contrast to a Canadian assessment of maritime security vulnerabilities.

“When compared to
other tactics, maritime attacks by al-Qaida or its affiliates are rare and have
only occurred in the Middle East and East Asia. The transferability of this
tactic to North America would be problematic given MTS governance and law
enforcement that create a less permissive maritime environment.”

The most vulnerable
marine sector, it says, is U.S. and Canadian passenger ferries and terminals,
which present softer targets than major ports and other significant marine
transport elements and are readily accessible to homegrown extremists.

The U.S. assessment
presents a distinctly different picture than that of a January report by
Defence Research and Development Canada, which said the threat to Canada’s
maritime borders has increased. It analyzed the terror risk posed by millions
of small boats in high-traffic border regions, such as the Great Lakes and the
St. Lawrence Seaway, against targets such as bridges and nuclear power plants.

“The terrorist risk
manifests itself in several forms, including transportation of weapons of mass
destruction, the use of small vessels to deliver water-borne improvised
explosive devices, for the smuggling of wanted persons, as well as a platform
for standoff weapons and attacks.

“Emerging threats are
being signalled by events in other countries such as Colombia and Mexico where
there is a growing use of submersibles or miniature submarines, partially
submerged vessels (presenting a small radar cross section) and high-powered low
freeboard vessels (Pangas).”

The report concluded
that Canada has no coherent strategy for dealing with a growing national
security threat posed by small boats in high-traffic border regions. Much of
the analysis was based on comments and insights from police, military, port
authorities and government officials. Most “do not feel that the current
surveillance capabilities are sufficient to counter the small vessel threat and
that a change is needed,” the report said.

The Great Lakes
marine transportation system encompasses eight states, two provinces and more
than 32 million Canadian and U.S. citizens. The region produces 50 per cent of
all U.S. manufacturing output and two-thirds of Canada’s. The waterway’s
importance is expected to grow as both countries seek ways to ease highway and
rail congestion (Ottawa Citizen, 2012).